The U.S. dollar traded higher versus major currencies on Thursday, as worries about the economic impact of the Covid-19 restrictions boosted safety demand on the green currency, ahead of the awaited U.S. jobless claims figures.

The dollar index, which tracks the green currency’s movements against a basket of six major currencies, rose for a second straight session to 99.98 after hitting a session top at 100.06.

Meanwhile, investors are assessing the economic effect of the coronavirus outbreak on the global economy after the release of horrendous economic data and earnings reports.

Corporate financial results showed that investment portfolios managed by large banks took a hit by the virus spread, while some financial institutions set aside billions for loan losses.

Bank of America's first-quarter earnings dipped 45 percent, prompting the bank to reserve $4.8 billion for credit losses.

U.S. retail sales released on Wednesday signaled an 8.7 percent drop in March, the steepest decline since compiling data for the first time in 1992.

Later in the day, eyes will focus on the U.S. weekly jobless claims, which may show that 5.1 million people filled for first time jobless applications, raising the number of terminations above 20 million over last month.

The U.S. jobless rate is heading towards 20 percent, the worst since the Great Depression, according to Bloomberg forecasts.

Last night, the S&P 500 index finished 2.2% down, the Dow Jones fell 1.86 percent and the Nasdaq Composite tumbled 1.44 percent despite President Trump’s announcement that new Covid-19 cases had “passed the peak,” referring that he would outline guidelines to relax stay-at-home rules.

The U.S. 2-year Treasury yield slipped to the lowest level since 2011, reflecting refuge demand and the risk-off sentiment among investors.